What if only one comes back?
by toobeauty
Summary: This is a what if... ficlet, a bit dark ...


TITLE: What if only one comes back?

AUTHOR: Too_beauty.

PAIRING: Alexander & Hephaestion.

RATING: PG.

CATEGORY: AU

DISCLAMER: I don't know the people involved, they belong to History and to themselves but I wouldn't mind sharing my life with Phai *sighs*

WARNING: Angst, fictional DEATH CHARACTER, hints of m/m relationship

BETA: Emily who can put my thoughts into beautiful words.

FEEDBACK: comments are love!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The idea came from the comment left by Delos in one of my other stories and well this was born ….

334 BC – Battle of Granicus.

The battle was ferocious; every soldier was doing their best and was so immersed in their own fight that no one realized that Alexander was personally under attack by Rhoesaces and Spithridates.

Hephaestion turned round after slaying a Persian soldier on his chest and saw the attack over Alexander. He cursed loudly because he didn't mean to be apart from his lover, but he saw that a sea of men kept them apart at the moment.

He stood up on his stirrups and shouted to Cleitus, who was the nearest to Alexander, and the black General chopped off Spithridates's arm before the Persian satrap could bring it down on Alexander. Hephaestion flashed a broad smile to both men and went on fighting.

The victory was claimed again by Alexander and his army. The king was walking along the battlefield and organizing all the necessary things to tend the wounded and dead soldiers. He turned round to ask something to Hephaestion and, not seeing him by his side, he realized he had not seen his lover since they were separated in the battlefield.

He called for Theo and the page was by his side within seconds (in fact he ha been on his way to fetch the king), and when the king asked him if he had seen Hephaestion, the poor boy went pale and broke the news: Hephaestion had been badly hurt and Philip doubted that he would make it.

Alexander sprinted towards the medical tent, shouting his lover's name urgently. The soldiers that had gathered next to the blue-eyed General's cot moved aside and let the King approach.

Alexander looked at his lover, immobile on his cot, and instantly looked at Philip, who shook his head and whispered:

- "I am sorry, Sire, I did everything I could but his wounds were serious and he had lost too much blood."

Alexander looked at the watery eyes of the old doctor and said, brokenly:

- "Thank you, Philip, I know you did your best. Now if you would all kindly leave us alone for the moment," the king asked very lowly.

Three hours later, Ptolemy peeped inside the tent and saw Alexander laying next to Hephaestion, hugging him tightly and whispering loving words into his ear while caressing the pale face tenderly.

The king's face was clearly traced by tears, his eyes pained and red-rimmed. The tall companion approached his friend and asked him to let Hephaestion go but the king refused and insisted on preparing his body for the pyre himself.

Alexander carried Hephaestion bridal-style to his own tent and set him on the bed; he turned to his page and asked for warm water to wash Hephaestion's body because he didn't want his lover to be cold; he cleaned the blood and grime from his body; he combed his hair and perfumed his still muscled frame with some sandal oil. He chose the best of Hephaestion's chitons, a white one with gold embroideries, designed just for a king, but Phai deserved it because he was the king of his heart.

The pyres were already prepared and Hephaestion's was the highest; some soldiers were whispering and wondering why it was like that - many other Generals had died before and they had not recieved the same treatment by the king. Alexander took Hephaestion in his arms again and, on his way to the pyre, he stopped in front of those soldiers and said:

- " Because none of them were my husband."

A pregnant silence reigned all over the place and no one dared to break it. Nobody knew that Alexander and Hephaestion had celebrated a secret bonding ceremony the night before, but they could now clearly see that both men were wearing matching gold rings. The full army saw how Alexander laid Hephaestion's corpse on the pyre, set two gold coins, one on each eye, to pay the boatman and asked the Olympians to grant him a swift trip to the underworld. Afterwards, Ptolemy handed out a torch and Alexander set fire to his husband's last resting place. Alexander didn't move from his side until there were only ashes and when the last ember died out, Alexander went back to their tent and stayed there for two full days, without drinking or eating.

The third day arrived and Alexander stepped out of the tent, recently bathed, with a clean chiton and asked his page to go and call all his Generals for a war meeting.

When his Generals arrived, they saw that Alexander had cut his long hair as Achilles had done to mourn his Patroclus, but none of them mentioned that.

Alexander reorganized his campaigns and followed his ambitions but he never smiled again, not even when his victories were numerous and the borders of his Empire reached the furthest lands that nobody else had achieved before. His soldiers did not complain of being so long and far from their home, but as for whether it was out of love for their king or pity, no one could say.

When the time came, he took a pure Macedonian woman (solely to produce an heir) who gave him two strong boys. They became his heirs and when they were old enough he left the throne to his eldest son, afterwards retreating to a quiet house he had in Mieza. The mother of his sons had died many years ago and he was never seen with another person by his side again.

His health was not the best; his body was tired and his mind was weak. According to his closest friends, he had been talking to Hephaestion more often than always and had been asking him to take him to his side.

The king closed his two coloured eyes and dozed off. His eyes moved very quickly under his eyelids, alerting the approaching man that he was dreaming deeply. The agitated rhythm of his breathing also revealed that what he was having was a nightmare.

A soft voice whispered into the king's ear:

- "Xander, wake up, love, you are only dreaming," while warm strong arms hugged his frame from behind.

The king opened his eyes suddenly and sighed, loudly asking:

- "Phai?"

- "Yes, my love. I am here."

- "Never leave me, please." The desperation in his plea clenched painfully around Hephaestion's heart.

- "Never, but we must look for help, you can't keep dreaming about my death and your life alone over and over again," Hepaestion said, concerning clouding his eyes and worry coating his words.

- "I know, I would as soon we are home," Alexander promised as he grasped Hephaestion's hands.

- "And when will that be?"

- "Tomorrow, we are going back to Macedon tomorrow," Alexander nodded, affirming his own plans. "Life is too short, husband, and I intend to enjoy it and you as long as I can. I've already dreamed many times my life without you and that is a dream I don't want to achieve."

- "That's fine, husband, let's go home and we will try to never think again on what would happen if only one of us came back." Hephaestion ended the conversation by kissing his husband tenderly but with a promise of more to come.


End file.
